2010 Ford Fiesta and Refreshed 2009 Focus to Satisfy U.S. Craving for Small Cars?

Small cars, direct-injection, and turbocharging are all part of the fuel-efficient vehicle strategy.

The way Ford sees it, small cars will be big. Potential subcompact or B-segment buyers are growing by leaps and bounds, fueled by high gasoline prices, and the automaker thinks it will be well-positioned to get in on the action with the all-new Ford Fiesta.

The Fiesta goes on sale in the U.S. in 2010 as a vehicle one size smaller than the compact (C-segment) Ford Focus. It’s a popular size in the rest of the world, and one that is gaining popularity in North America because smaller cars usually are more fuel-efficient and the Fiesta will be no exception. It will have a small four-cylinder engine of undisclosed displacement, according to Ford.

And there likely also will be an Ecoboost option—Ford’s overarching powertrain strategy that will use direct injection and turbocharging to enable downsizing of its engines in 500,000 vehicles in North America by 2013.

Initially, that strategy means putting a turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 in the Lincoln MKS sedan in early 2009 and adding it to the 2010 Ford F-150 pickup and the new Ford Mustang in that general timeframe. It also means putting boosted fours eventually in the Ford Fusion, Focus, and Fiesta, with displacements likely ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 liters by 2020.

But fuel-efficient and lower-emissions engines are not enough, says Derrick Kuzak, group vice president in charge of global product development. Ford also needs lighter unibody vehicles, six-speed and dual-clutch transmissions, electric power-assisted steering, battery management systems, and more aerodynamic vehicles.

And Ford needs more small cars. B-cars accounted for only one percent of U.S. sales in 2002, grew to two percent in 2007, and will double again to four percent by 2012, says Beth Donovan, Ford small car product manager. Globally, subcompacts account for about 27 percent of industry sales or about 85 million units. Importantly, Donovan says 32 percent of first-car buyers purchase a B-car, compared with 28 percent who buy the larger C-car.

The target demographic for the Fiesta in the U.S. are the so-called Millennials—14 to 29-year-olds forecast to comprise 20 percent of the market in 2010, says Sheryl Connelly, Ford’s chief of global marketing. Ford wants to woo them with a small sedan it hopes will offer better looks, features, materials, and performance than the econoboxes of the 1970s that were loved only for their sticker price.

Econoboxes in the U.S. market can be traced back to the Toyota Corolla’s debut in 1968, followed by the Honda N600 two-door in 1970. Ford imported the first Fiestas to the U.S. from 1978 to 1980 in a knee-jerk response, followed by the Ford Festiva from 1988 to 1993, which gave way to the Ford Aspire from 1994 to 1997. They all had one thing in common: they provided dispassionate but affordable basic transportation.

Today Ford is a small car leader in Europe and the automaker’s design and engineering studios there took the lead in developing the next-gen Fiesta that has been shown in concept form as the Verve sedan and hatchback at auto shows in Frankfurt, Shanghai, and Detroit.

Meanwhile, Ford announced it is tweaking the front and rear fascias of the 2009 Ford Focus to give the SE coupe a sportier look and more in line with the pending Fiesta for North America; a move that includes ditching the heinous chrome fender vents. The SE will start at $16,615 when it goes on sale this summer. The top-of-the-line Focus SES will get 17-inch aluminum wheels standard and a new roofline spoiler, with pricing to start at $18,035. The moves are designed to attract younger buyers for the Focus. No changes were announced for the Focus sedan.

The Focus was redesigned for 2008 and a coupe added to the lineup for North America to try to keep the first-generation car fresh until the third-generation of the vehicle is introduced globally (Ford sells the second-gen Focus in the rest of the world).

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